IK Monitor Research (9-2)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, July 2001

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Research

Indigenous ecological knowledge in the management and use of mixed agroforestry systems in Talamanca, Costa Rica

The thesis 'Indigenous ecological knowledge in the management and use of mixed agroforestry systems in Talamanca, Costa Rica' presents an investigation into indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) and the management and resource use of mixed agroforestry systems (AFS), in selected tribes in the Talamanca region of southeastern Costa Rica. The main aim of the study is to investigate the hypothesis that indigenous people, whose agroforestry practices go back for centuries, have developed an understanding of their ecological function which can be captured and incorporated in development programmes to improve such practices. Using Geographic Information (GIS) technology, indigenous knowledge can be retrieved and quantified in order to maximize its usefulness for planning and decision-making.

The study will focus on the IEK that underlies decision-making criteria used by farmers in managing their mixed agroforestry systems. Because agroforestry systems are generally complex, effective decision-making in research and extension depends on making good use of all available knowledge. Increasingly, development professionals recognise the value of supplementing scientific and professional understanding with knowledge held by indigenous people. This knowledge is of particular interest, but is often incomplete or contentious and different knowledge sources, though complementary, may not be immediately compatible or comparable. Moreover, much of the information about the ecology of indigenous agroforestry practices is qualitative and may include observational information (such as qualitative correlations), or be descriptive. Precise environmental data and quantitative models are rarely available. The study will examine how indigenous farmers value their agroforestry resources, the underlying knowledge systems they use and how they perceive the interactions occurring in their tree-crop-based farming system. The ecological knowledge used in managing the interactions will also be examined in detail.

The study will rely on concepts and approaches to eliciting knowledge developed in the fields of anthropology and ethnography, combined with a novel methodology based on ethnographic analysis for collecting, recording, assessing and evaluating ecological knowledge using knowledge-based systems techniques and WinATK© (Agroforestry Knowledge Toolkit) software. The knowledge acquired from key informants will be evaluated to ascertain how representative it is, the extent to which it is used by the indigenous farmer, and whether it is complementary or contradictory to professional knowledge held by researchers operating in the study area. Database functions and a graphics user interface will allow flexible exploration, retrieval, and evaluation of indigenous knowledge. Thematic or attribute data will be organized into a relational data structure. Arc-view© will be used to integrate image processing and spatial analysis capabilities, tabular databases and conventional GIS characteristics. Once information is classified and stored in the framework, it can be spatially represented in the form of layers. Each layer is characterized by different levels of detail, sensitivity and confidentiality, which together determine the degree of access at each level. Both WINAKT and Arc-view will be continuously updated to meet the changing requirements of users.

The defining feature of the approach is the explicit representation of knowledge and incremental knowledge acquisition based on an iterative and rigorous evaluation of the usefulness of the knowledge already acquired. The end result is a comprehensive knowledge base and an explicit and accessible record of indigenous knowledge of mixed agroforestry systems, created through interviews with key informants. The utility of the approach is that once created, knowledge bases could be maintained and updated as a growing corporate record of current knowledge on agro-ecosystem biodiversity and indigenous farming systems. The formal approach to synthesising, evaluating and reasoning with knowledge about indigenous agroforestry will help preserve and conserve valuable indigenous knowledge, intellectual property and facilitate the use of that knowledge in planning further agroforestry research, community development and extension activities.

One important ethical component of the study will be to ensure the key informants (indigenous farmers) are the owners of the process of data collection, analysis and evaluation and that the results of the study serve and benefit local people. The research project will be undertaken as a collaborative effort with the Department of Renewable Natural Resources and Rural Economy (University of Alberta, Canada) in affiliation with CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza), in Turrialba Costa Rica. Fieldwork will be done in conjunction with SEDER (Sociedad de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural) and the FUNDAEC- NUR Association (Asocación Nucleo de la Universidad Rural), two important NGOs in the Talamanca region.

For more information please contact:
Dan. Frederick Orcherton (PhD student, Department of Renewable Resources and Rural Economy) University of Alberta, Edmonton Alberta, Canada
705-A General Services Building University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB (Canada)
Tel.: +1-780-4928743
Fax: +1-780-4346745
E-mail: dorchert@powersurfr.com or dano@ualberta.ca

Uses of Arush leaves for treating animals, humans, and agricultural products

Arush (Adhatoda Vasica) is a wild bush found in forests. 'Resource-poor' farmers in Uttar Pradesh, India, use its leaves to treat their animals and for other purposes. But the forests where Arush grows are shrinking as more and more land is being brought under cultivation and used for housing under pressure of population growth. The plant needs to be protected for the benefit of local farmers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the indigenous uses of Arush leaves. Field research was conducted from May 2000 to January 2001. The research method combined participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), participant observation, group discussions, and personal interviews using an interview schedule. Six villages were selected at random from an area covering approximately 20 square kilometres in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. Local practices were documented which involve using Arush leaves for livestock, agriculture and human health. Sixty resource-poor mango growers and 50 owners of bullocks, cows, and buffalos were selected as informants. The results of the study are as follows:

· Arush leaves are used for breaking animals of the habit of drinking urine. Both rich and poor farmers were observed to use an extract of green Arush leaves to treat animals-generally bullocks-for this ailment. The habit of drinking urine develops as animals strive to correct a salt imbalance. Farmers also consider the habit a sign of bad character, and it reduces the price they can get for the animal in the market. For breaking the urine-drinking habit and curing the salt disorder, farmers give the animals an extract of Arush leaves. The leaves are crushed and mixed with 10 g. of black salt, 10 g. of common salt, and 100 to 150 ml. of fresh cooled water. With the help of a bamboo stick, the solution is administered to the animals twice a day (morning and evening) for six to eight days, or until the animal seems to find the smell and taste of urine unpleasant and stops drinking it.
An extract of green Arush leaves is used to treat indigestion in animals. Farmers mix green Arush leaves with other ingredients in order to treat buffalos, cows and bullocks that are showing symptoms of indigestion: that is, not eating well and experiencing discomfort when they defecate. The recipe calls for five to six kilos of crushed green Arush leaves, one kilo of black mustard seed, one kilo of wheat seeds, three kilos of mahua flowers (Madhuka latifolia), two kilos of onions, 250 g. of unripe turmeric, 1.5 kilos of gur (local name of sugar processed using a traditional method), 500 g. of curd, one kilo of goolar fruit (Ficus glomerata.), 250 g. of black salt, 200 g. of common salt, and 100 g. of Asotoetida mixed with 20 litres of fresh cooled water. This mixture is fermented in a large clay pot under anaerobic conditions for 10 to 12 days and then filtered through cotton cloth and transferred to another pot. Using a bamboo stick, farmers give the animals 400 to 500 ml. of this drink after each time the animals have eaten. (Exact dosages depend on the animal's age.) This treatment is continued for up to 15 days, but usually the animal is cured after drinking the medicine three or four times.
Green Arush leaves are used to ripen mangos. Most of the rich mango growers in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh use ethylene to ripen their mangos, but this method is too expensive for resource-poor farmers. They use green Arush leaves instead. Local and hybrid varieties of mango are harvested in large quantity in May and June. Mangos are harvested before they are ripe so that farmers can control the ripening, timing it with market demand and thus getting the best price for their produce. The technology is simple and costs nothing. Ten to 12 kilos of green Arush leaves are enough to ripen 100 kilos of mangos in the following manner. A layer of paddy straw is spread on the floor. This is followed by alternate layers of Arush leaves and mangos (four layers of leaves and three layers of mangos). The final layer of leaves is covered with paddy straw. The entire construction is then plastered over with mud made from clay loam soil. This is kept wet in order to maintain the air-tight seal which ensures the necessary anaerobic conditions. After three to four days, gas forms naturally around the unripe mangos and within eight days the mangos are ripe. Mangos ripened in this way taste better than chemically ripened mangos.
For as long as anyone can remember, green Arush leaves have been used to treat humans for fever and cold. The extraction process is simple. Seven to 8 fresh Arush leaves are put in 150 ml. of clean water together with five to six grams of black pepper and two spoons of sugar. This mixture is boiled until it turns brown and is reduced to approximately 50 ml. It is then filtered. The drink is administered twice a day (morning and evening) for eight to ten days, but after three or four days symptoms are relieved.

The main conclusion of the study is that green leaves of the Arush plant provide resource-poor farmers with effective remedies for treating certain ailments and an effective technology for managing their mango harvests. Policy-makers and scientists should acknowledge that this indigenous knowledge could make a positive contribution to the fields of veterinary medicine, post-harvest technology and human health.

For more information please contact:
Ranjay K. Singh (PhD Scholar)
Dept. of Extension Education and Rural Sociology, room no. 91
New Hostel, JNKVV, Jabalpur-482004 (MP) India
Email: ranjay_jbp@rediffmail.com

Integration of local peasant knowledge into agricultural extension

This is a PhD study carried out in the Dominican Republic in 2000. It investigates local peasant knowledge in its social context as well as its position within extension work, research and development cooperation. The study focuses from this perspective on two major problems facing rural development in the Dominican Republic. The first is the marginalization of indigenous knowledge as a consequence of a srong modernizing tendency within Dominican society oriented on the West. To counteract this, the study examines different knowledge potentials in the light of their strengths and weaknesses under the current agro-ecological, socioeconomic and cultural conditions obtaining in small-scale agriculture. The second problem is increasing rural poverty and ecological degradation in the mountain regions of the country. Up to now the agricultural extension sector has provided few efficient and sustainable strategies to solve the problem. In this context the integration of indigenous knowledge and farmers' experiments have been discussed as possible approaches capable of increasing peasants' motivation to create their own problem-solving process. This approach could also offer opportunities to develop new, appropriate farming technologies through the synthesis of traditional and modern technologies. The integration of indigenous knowledge from other agrarian cultures should also be examined.

The province of Dajabon on the northern border with Haiti was the area chosen for this study. The researchers investigated rural social structures, traditional ways of life and the peasant economy in case studies, open and semi-structured interviews and participative observation. Various knowledge potentials were examined from the point of view of traditional plant protection and soil conservation. But other typical elements of Dominican peasant culture such as ethnomedicine, agricultural calendars, soil and plant classification systems, cosmovisions, magic and spirituality were also studied. To investigate the extension and research situation, the attitude of extension workers towards their peasant clients and the forms of communication between the different professional groups, open and semi-structured interviews were held with field officers, researchers and developing experts. The results were compared with the different extension approaches of NGOs and the official extension service.

The results show that most agricultural consultants and researchers largely ignore local peasant knowledge and farmers' experiments in their extension or research practice. The majority of the consultants interviewed were unfamiliar with the idea that indigenous knowledge could serve as an informative negotiating basis for consultations. To change this situation, agricultural education and professional training will have to increase students' awareness of the value and potential of peasant knowledge. Institutional and political frameworks have to become more flexible and open to new extension and research approaches and better interinstitutional cooperation at local, national and international level. The study recommends the establishment of a field school in the area studied as a research and education project for small farmers and agricultural consultants. The school would promote a form of rural development focused on peasant knowledge and experimentation and supporting an intensive exchange of knowledge and experience between institutions and individuals.

For more information, please contact:
Gitta Roeth, consultant, Stadtgrenze 5, 40670 Meerbusch, Germany.
Tel.: +49-2159-815183.
Fax : +49-2159-815184.
E-mail: gitta.roeth@cityweb.de